4 ms·

OP here! I found Z80 assembler quite interesting (I had previous experience with Intel 16 and 32 bit), and Z88DK supports inline asm so it wasn't too bad if yo

by reidrac 12y ago

OP here! I found Z80 assembler quite interesting (I had previous experience with Intel 16 and 32 bit), and Z88DK supports inline asm so it wasn't too bad if you can restrict the assembler code to small routines and still do the main bits in C.

fit2rule 12y ago
I've had the Oric-1 OSDK (http://osdk.defence-force.org/ http://osdk.defence-force.org/), which offers the same universe, in my hack/inbox for a while now .. its an amazing thing to return to these old architectures and realize just how much we take things for granted today, and yet - in spite of the limitations - the things are still just as useful and interesting as they ever were. 'tis a delight to witness a 7-year old and a 5-year old pillaging through an ancient (30+ years) collection of floppies and tapes, and .. gradually over a few months .. accruing their list of favorites on the 'bookmark disk' from the collection, such that it is (* -). An 8-bit machine with 8 gigabytes of storage available is a truly profound and superlative new realm for exploration. I'm glad I'm doing it vicariously! (* - http://www.oric.org/software/ http://www.oric.org/software/)
- reidrac 12y ago
  "and realize just how much we take things for granted today" Well, Z88DK has some... bugs. It is definitely a new experience when the compiler segfaults because a syntax error ;) To be fair, I'm glad it exists, but it got me busy for few hours because of a couple of bugs less evident than a compiler crash. My experience when I was 13 was with the Spectrum, but after getting back in contact with "the old 8-bit world" I think the Commodore 64, the Amstrad CPC, or even the Oric could be quite interesting to revisit and explore; and I'm sure there are still some users out there that would love new software!
  - fit2rule 12y ago
    I can say with certainty that there are users of all of those machines out there who would love to get some new software, indeed! Let me know if you're interested in the Oric scene .. I'd be happy to show you around!

by reidrac 12y ago

fit2rule 12y ago

I've had the Oric-1 OSDK (http://osdk.defence-force.org/ http://osdk.defence-force.org/), which offers the same universe, in my hack/inbox for a while now .. its an amazing thing to return to these old architectures and realize just how much we take things for granted today, and yet - in spite of the limitations - the things are still just as useful and interesting as they ever were. 'tis a delight to witness a 7-year old and a 5-year old pillaging through an ancient (30+ years) collection of floppies and tapes, and .. gradually over a few months .. accruing their list of favorites on the 'bookmark disk' from the collection, such that it is (* -). An 8-bit machine with 8 gigabytes of storage available is a truly profound and superlative new realm for exploration. I'm glad I'm doing it vicariously! (* - http://www.oric.org/software/ http://www.oric.org/software/)

reidrac 12y ago
"and realize just how much we take things for granted today" Well, Z88DK has some... bugs. It is definitely a new experience when the compiler segfaults because a syntax error ;) To be fair, I'm glad it exists, but it got me busy for few hours because of a couple of bugs less evident than a compiler crash. My experience when I was 13 was with the Spectrum, but after getting back in contact with "the old 8-bit world" I think the Commodore 64, the Amstrad CPC, or even the Oric could be quite interesting to revisit and explore; and I'm sure there are still some users out there that would love new software!
- fit2rule 12y ago
  I can say with certainty that there are users of all of those machines out there who would love to get some new software, indeed! Let me know if you're interested in the Oric scene .. I'd be happy to show you around!